5 ms·

Seems like a business ready for some automation.

Nav_Panel 9y ago
My first thought was how plausible it'd be to write an algorithm to do the client-barrister matching for you, but I get the vibe from this article that the relationship between barristers and clerks is more about some sort of unique social tradition than it is about the actual work of client matching and fare collecting. But then again, I'm not British and cannot say for sure.
Uhhrrr 9y ago
>There are solicitors, who provide legal advice from their offices, and there are barristers, who argue in court. Barristers get the majority of their business via solicitors, and clerks act as the crucial middlemen between the tribes—they work for and sell the services of their barristers, steering inquiring solicitors to the right man or woman. >Clerks are by their own cheerful admission “wheeler-dealers,” what Americans might call hustlers. They take a certain pride in managing the careers of their bosses, the barristers—a breed that often combines academic brilliance with emotional fragility. Many barristers regard clerks as their pimps. Managing relationships between lawyers? I think it seems a bit more tricky than playing Go.
- madaxe_again 9y ago
  Also, most of this relationship management happens in pubs (really), so until we have a robot that can drink and smoke and stagger, this one stays with the humans. They're a very close-knit and rambunctiously boozy clique.
- arethuza 9y ago
  "managing the careers of their bosses" In Scotland the grouping of advocates with a clerk are known as "stables" which perhaps describes the relationship more clearly!
paulcole 9y ago
I was thinking this would be a great application for Blockchain technology.
kazinator 9y ago
Good heavens, my good man! Perish the thought.
orf 9y ago
It's going to take a hell of a lot of work to automate an Essex-born wheeler dealer, trust me.
- cm2187 9y ago
  Including training the algorithm to crack football jokes over a beer at the pub!
tacostakohashi 9y ago
Just like real estate sales and bond trading?

My first thought was how plausible it'd be to write an algorithm to do the client-barrister matching for you, but I get the vibe from this article that the relationship between barristers and clerks is more about some sort of unique social tradition than it is about the actual work of client matching and fare collecting. But then again, I'm not British and cannot say for sure.

Uhhrrr 9y ago

>There are solicitors, who provide legal advice from their offices, and there are barristers, who argue in court. Barristers get the majority of their business via solicitors, and clerks act as the crucial middlemen between the tribes—they work for and sell the services of their barristers, steering inquiring solicitors to the right man or woman. >Clerks are by their own cheerful admission “wheeler-dealers,” what Americans might call hustlers. They take a certain pride in managing the careers of their bosses, the barristers—a breed that often combines academic brilliance with emotional fragility. Many barristers regard clerks as their pimps. Managing relationships between lawyers? I think it seems a bit more tricky than playing Go.

madaxe_again 9y ago
Also, most of this relationship management happens in pubs (really), so until we have a robot that can drink and smoke and stagger, this one stays with the humans. They're a very close-knit and rambunctiously boozy clique.
arethuza 9y ago
"managing the careers of their bosses" In Scotland the grouping of advocates with a clerk are known as "stables" which perhaps describes the relationship more clearly!

paulcole 9y ago

I was thinking this would be a great application for Blockchain technology.

kazinator 9y ago

Good heavens, my good man! Perish the thought.

orf 9y ago

It's going to take a hell of a lot of work to automate an Essex-born wheeler dealer, trust me.

cm2187 9y ago
Including training the algorithm to crack football jokes over a beer at the pub!

tacostakohashi 9y ago

Just like real estate sales and bond trading?